Swimmer is a ballet choreographed by Yuri Possokhov, to commissioned music by Shinji Eshima, along with music by Kathleen Brennan, Gavin Bryars and Tom Waits.
[1] San Francisco Ballet choreographer in residence Yuri Possokhov's Swimmer is based on the short story of the same name by John Cheever.
[2] The ballet is inspired by 1960s United States from Soviet-born Possokhov's point of view,[3] and has various cultural references, such as Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, Jack London's novel Martin Eden, Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks,[1] and Mike Nichols's film The Graduate.
[4] The ballet uses a commissioned score by San Francisco Ballet Orchestra member Shinji Eshima, and other music by Kathleen Brennan, Gavin Bryars and Tom Waits.
[5] The sets, costumes, lighting and video were designed by Alexander V. Nichols, Mark Zappone, David Finn and Kate Duhamel respectively.